The Dearest of Them All
by LapinPerle
Summary: Daring Charming was more than a tad bit conceited. It was expected. He brought up to be that way. From a young age people fell to their knees at the sight of his power, money and good looks. His smile beamed with privilege and wealth. Girls swooned at everything he did. Everything he spoke. He was considered a god. His word law. Until a small little critter popped up and defied
1. Chapter 1

"It's not that I don't like you, I guess…" Bunny trailed off uncertainly, itching towards the furthest depths of the corner she was caged in. She didn't really know how she ended up in a situation like this. A compromising situation like this. She could have glimpsed awe- stricken faces and fast moving lips against ears from behind his broad shoulders and she didn't like it one bit. She wasn't a fan of gossip.

Standing at her locker was all she did, she reflected to herself. She did it every morning.

Got her books for the morning sessions, replacing them with the textbooks she took home with her overnight and headed off to class. Nothing more, nothing less. Until today.

"You guess?" His voice unintentionally boomed through the halls, echoing through empty classrooms and reflecting off solid brick walls. The natural base in his voice made her knees quiver in fear and she felt pools of tears engulf her eyes. She locked down at her feet. Her flat, pointed toe shoe covered feet.

The day she decided to wear flats was the day a six foot…something, overly hormonal, conceited, pompous, pain in the fluff tail decided to approach her with missile like questions, she thought again as he eyes wondered over his wide chest.

"EAH" she whispered breathlessly from fright as she read the letters of his argyle sweater. With a shocked gasp she noticed her chin being hoisted by strong fingers to meet grey-blue eyes. They were steeled with resolution and soft with compassion as he searched her own. He stared down at her for a long time, silently, his breath being held tightly within his throat.

"Answer me, Bunny. Why don't you like me?" she watched as his white blocks moved against pink lips as she felt his fingers' hold tighten on her skin. She studied the way his blonde curls were combed with precision, not a hair out place, unlike her own loose bob that flowed with no exceptional zeal, tendrils all over the place.

"I can't make a judgement off of shallow observation. There is no substance, no qualitative data that can be concluded from such an analysis, for a lack of a better term. I would need to be around you, to know your personality…experience you…" she felt as though she couldn't breath anymore. She couldn't handle situations like these, she concluded; intense, intimate. Conversations that she couldn't tell the course of. The end result. She was out of her comfort zone and this clicked in her brain as she felt a single tear drop from her eye. With a burst of light, she shifted, falling to the floor as a white Bunny. Her flush now evident against her white fur. Looking up, she now realized that with one twitch of his foot and she could be flying at high speed through the halls, probably even catching fire at one point. This made her cower. With haste she pranced off before his reaching hands could have grabbed her, scurrying to a safe place where her heart could have slowed down in peace.

He watched her run away, knowing easily well he could have caught his in few wide strides. He watched her chubby figure make its way through the main doors, smiling to himself at how odd a one she was. He found it hard to believe she was a Royal. But, not in the bad way, he confirmed. If that was even possible, his narrow-minded perspective corrected.

He felt his younger brother approach him from behind and seconds later his hand on his shoulder.

He adjusted his glasses on his nose before attempting to saying anything.

"A-"

Out of nowhere an abundance of tight coiled curls appeared and intervened.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A girl just ran AWAY from you? Did my eyes just deceive me or was it, is this, real life, brother Dearest?" she said, using the affection filled pun she gave him as a nickname.

He patted her small blonde head before walking off, flashing a group of girls a smile on his way out.

"In due time, sister, in due time."


	2. Chapter 2

"Um, hey, Bunny, is everything okay?" whispered Apple from behind a peeping rabbit. Bunny was scared out of her lost wits and she wasn't prepared to meet up with the person who have scattered them like Wonderland lost things. She couldn't handle how her hands sweated around him or how her knees wobbled when he was near. She especially couldn't handle the fact that she was completely clueless to what all these feelings meant.

"No." she said with her head down. She was flustered and topst-turny and she didn't know how to explain it to anyone. Not even Alistair, and that was saying a lot. She could have related anything to him and got an answer that was fresh off the baker's batch. Forever just right. Except now.

"Apple…do you ever feel," she bit her lip and searched for the just right words, not wanting to express herself wrong, just like all the times before, "different?" she swayed her eyes back and forth and decided that it could have sufficed.

"Different?" she said with a curious giggle. "How so, Bunny?"

"Well, I have this feeling around this guy," Apple's eyes beamed with happiness but she remained silent, holding the squeal in for just the right time. Probably right around happy ever after? "He makes me feel, well, he kinda has this…"

"Boyish charm?"

"No."

"Infectious laughter?"

"I've never heard him laugh. Or I have, but I never really noticed him to observe him like that before…"

"Unrelenting charismatic energy that serges through him like quicksilver?"

"Yes!"

"Finally…" Apple whispered half-heartedly and exasperated. She was running out affectionate descriptions.

"Oh, no. I now know what he makes me feel but I don't see his persona as any of those." Bunny stated matter-of-factly. With slumped shoulders and a defeated and confused expression Apple leaned against the lockers and threw his dainty hands in the air and stared at Bunny expectantly. She was eager to know what fascinating feeling Bunny, the always quiet and slightly introverted- for a Wonderlandian, at least- critter, had for this mystery guy.

"He makes me feel uncomfortable." Was all she said with angst. Apple stayed silent for moment and look at everything in turn, trying her best, as she promised the land she would, to find a solution for Bunny's unresolved feelings.

"Bunny, I think the problem here is that you don't know how to express the feelings you've had for this guy because you never felt this way before. You've never liked someone as much as you do now."

Bunny squished her face into something that was caught between the creak of a scowl and disgust.

"Like? I don't like him!" looking around she realized she had said that a little bit too loudly and now everyone was gazing expectantly. She nodded apologetically and scooted closer to the wall, hoping to morph into a locker.

"Apple, no. I have liked someone. I do like someone, and it doesn't feel this way, This feels like, well like…"

"Torture and teenage angst? Yep, that's like for you. And then some." The bell rang and everyone began shuffling to their classes. Apple placed her hand reassuringly on Bunny's small shoulders and smiled affectionately. "And Bunny….maybe what you felt, what you feel, that's isn't the real thing. You just have it in your pocket at times, popping up like, well, a Wonderland bunny out of a rabbit hole."

Her blonde curls could have been seen ruffling as she headed towards her class, waving to everyone as she passed by.

She could have seen, right pass poufy curls, Alistair, leaning against the wall talking to a guy from his Witchology. She analysed him from head to toe and shook her head, trying to get the silly notion out of her mind. She liked him. Loved him even?

She had for so long. What did Apple expect her to believe? That it was a fallen kingdom crush that was only kept going by her blind sense of time? Ironic to say the least.

She would have known if she had gotten over him….right?

He turned to her direction and waved with a warm smile on his lips, which slowly faded when he realized she didn't wave back.

For the first time, she realized, his smile was just his smile.

He was just…Alistair…


	3. Chapter 3

It plagued her like death. She didn't think anyone would understand what it felt like letting go of affections that were never acknowledged by the person you had them towards unless they experienced it for themselves. It would seem ridiculous to feel pain and hurt over something that was only one sided. A puppy-love crush that wasn't even past the point of intimate conversations. It seems foolish to an outsider. To someone who was bold and courageous. That thought affection could only be achieved within the heart if a relationship took place.

Bunny had had these emotions for so long, pent up within her small frame, reaching to a boil every time she saw him and now, the flame was lost to boil the pot. The water has turned cold and without it, a major part of my existence to this point, she felt lost and empty. She had made futile attempts throughout the day to make her heart beat the same way it did instinctively for him but it just wouldn't happen. She had to force herself to feel the slightest spark. It didn't erupt like before. It simply popped. Like gum. Stale gum.

She slipped underneath the covers of her bed and laid awake, staring at the ceiling. He wouldn't be home for hours, she reflected. He had a spirit of adventure and would use his nights to discover lost things or strange phenomenon that were uncommon in this land. Ones that only happened when the sun was down.

Bunny breathed a sign of release, being thankful that she still had time to sort out her feelings and placed everything just right.

Her heart leaped as she heard a tapping sound against her window. She laid deathly still, listening if it would come again. And it did, this time even louder. Not enough to wake her roommates, but enough for her to hear it better than she did the last time. She eased from underneath her covers, perspiration lacing her forehead and seeping into her brows. Her breathing was shallow as she made her way to the window. What if it was the Evil Queen, seeking revenge against the Wonderlandians?

She stooped a few paces from the window and crawled towards to opening, easing herself off the ground and peering through the bottom end of the window. She couldn't really see anything. It was pitch black and the moon wasn't out.

Her eyes widen as something tapped against the window, right where her eyes were. She stumbled back, fear etched in her eyes. She pondered a minute and noticed that it was a rock. A small rock. She got up off the floor and opened her window cautiously, thinking that it was most likely Alistair asking her to go on one of his 'adventures' again. He knew she hated venturing out into the cold. And now was not a good time for them to spend quality time together. Bunny remembered when she would jump at these opportunities, even when she didn't feel up to it, just to know that she would be alone with him. Now, feared simmered in the pits of her stomach to know that she didn't feel anything.

"Bunny!" she heard someone whisper through the night's air. She narrowed her eyes to see but to no avail.

"Let down your hair!" she could have heard the humorous undertone in his voice and she pin-pointed who it was. She felt the end of her short bob shyly and blushed deeply, grateful for the shroud of darkness.

Silence was exchanged between them. Bunny too shy to even open her mouth and Daring, well she couldn't see what he was doing. She bent, looking over the window's braces, trying to spot him. She almost screamed when his head popped up in front of her. His nose grazing her own and his white smile so close she could have seen the lines that separated each block. His eyes shone brightly as he brazenly stared back at her, a charming smile upon his lips. Pun intended.

She lost her balance as he leaned through the window, causing her to tumble onto the soft carpet that covered the cold cobblestone. Bunny knew her impact would be softened by the carpet but what she fell on was warm and firm. Radiating comforting heat. She froze. She didn't fall on something, but someone. A large arm clasped around her, securing her in her place.

"They don't just make anyone the captain of the bookball team, you know." He noted smugly.

"Thank you…Daring" she murmured, her reply coming out in short breaths.

Her breathing hitched when she felt something on her leg.

"They say catching a rabbit's foot brings good luck, let's see how much I can summon tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

Bunny sat on the carpet nervously as he walked the length of my room, eyes darting back and forth to anything and everything. It placed her on edge. She hated being criticized, confronted and scrutinized for her options and her preferences. She felt like her taste wouldn't have been appreciated by the Ever After Kingdom, therefore she never ventured into their circles or socialized among her peers.

She continued to sit silently, although her fidgeting would be noticed if he had turned around and focused on her small purple frame in the moonlight the slightest bit.

And he did.

Bunny jumped in sheer fright, morphing into a small white bunny and scampering underneath her bed. She trembled like a dragon on Ginger's Ever After sweets, afraid Daring was going to yell at her for finding such odd things interesting, or for collecting such antique clock, that served no use whatsoever because they were all broken and she didn't know how to fix even one.

Not even Alistair appreciated them. He had told her they were a 'waste of time' to collect. He had also laughed hysterically at his own lame pun, irritating her mates to their wits end, resulting in all of them ganging up on him and kicking him out the house. Bunny had gone to give him a blanket and pillow, as she felt guilty for it partially, in her mind, being her fault. But, as usual, he was nowhere to be found. Off adventuring, presumably.

Daring stooped beside the side of her bed, watching humorously her fluffy white tail quivering at a speed that made it look fuzzier and cotton-like. He angled his hand, one eye shut for utmost precision, similar to that of the way of pro-golfer would prepare to hit last ball of the match, and gave her a light thump on the butt, causing her to tumble over, doing a 180 degrees turn. Bunny's pink nose ticked anxiously as her big blue eyes stared up at Daring. She noticed then that his soft lips weren't itched in a disapproving frown, but a gentle, smile. A smile she had never seen before. It wasn't all teeth and shallow eyes. It was…soothing. Comforting. Ethereal, even. It was phenomenal.

"Bunny-boo," he said with sparklingly eyes that laughed down at her, and, surprisingly she found herself grinning back, feeling completely at ease, "Have you ever seen one of these clocks work before?" His head turned as his eyes scanned the shelves of unticking clocks and watches.

"No…"

"Do you want to?" he inquired, patience lining his words, as if speaking to a child. Not in a belittling manner, though. It held traces of respect and equality. Something that no one would expect to hear in Daring Charming's voice.

"Oh, yes! More than the return of Wonderland!" Bunny screeched, her delicate voice echoing throughout the dim room. She quickly morphed back into her original form, her head bumping the wooden lining of the bed. She quince in pain as she rubbed her head, her long ears falling above her eyes and her tousled hair blowing in the light breeze that slivered through the window. As she reached to brush it out of her eyes, her hand touched Daring's, her gasp going unnoticed as she retracted her hand swiftly, allowing him to brush away the loose tendrils.

His fingers were soft to the touch, Bunny noted, her skin tingling under his tips and mesmerizing eyes.

"Let's fix a clock, hm?

Different.

He was different from what she expected, and sadly, she didn't know if she could trust because of this.


End file.
